Thursday, July 13, 2017

8 Rules of Engagement Taught by the Prophet Muhammad

8 Rules of Engagement Taught by the Prophet Muhammad

Extremism ‘experts’ are everywhere these days. Assertions thrive
about what Shariah law allows, especially when it comes to warfare and
‘Jihad’. Two very unlikely bedfellows, Islamophobes and extremists, have
taken up one allegation, that Islam is violent, and run with it. They
both misquote Islamic sources to prove their shared fantasies, and to
good effect, with media outlets falling over themselves to give them a
platform. This convenient lie has become the Blood Libel of the Muslims,
which is spread by various groups to achieve their own agendas.
So here is a list of actual rules of engagement taken from Islamic
law, together with their original sources. This is what forms the basis
of what Muslims believe and follow. These 8 laws expose the ‘Islam is violent’ line as lazy and shamefully dishonest.N.B. War is unfortunately an
inevitable part of civilization and at times countries need to respond
to aggression. Islam allows the use of force to stop evil and bring
security to a country’s citizens therefore a set of laws pertaining to
war has been laid out by the Prophet Muhammad himself.What follows are mainstream laws of
Islam as taught by the orthodoxy of the religion. This is what the vast
majority of Muslims around the world observe as their religion. It does
not mean however, that all those who claim to be Muslim actually follow
orthodox Shariah laws. Such groups and individuals would rightly be
labelled as heretics for inventing new beliefs that run counter to
explicit statements found in original sources of Islamic law.
To begin with, all the following laws of war revolve around these
overarching statements in the Qur’an that acts as a general rule:

God does not prohibit you
from showing kindness and being just with those who do not fight you nor
have driven you out of your homes. Indeed God loves those who are
just. [Qur’an 60: 8]

The first verse forms the basis of all Islamic laws relating to
fighting, i.e. you are allowed to fight those that fight you, but not to
tyrannize those who have done you no harm. The second one goes further
and explains that, not only is fighting innocent civilians forbidden,
but Muslims are ordered to be kind and just with those who did no harm
to them. It is these verses that inform all other laws of engagement,
which are as follows:

1. The prohibition of killing women and children

Anas ibn Malik reports that the Messenger of Allah (may
peace be upon him) forbade the killing of women and children. [Muslim:
4320]

This instruction of the Prophet became a universally accepted law in
Islam, and it has been the practice of the Muslims throughout history.
It is because Muslims obeyed this law that we never saw Islamic
equivalents of things like the Spanish Inquisition or the slaughter of
civilians during the Crusades, even after the Muslims reclaimed
Jerusalem.
Or closer to our time, the genocide that Europeans exported to other
continents, such as North and South America and Australia, or the
widespread slaughter of humans during the 1st and 2nd ‘World War’, which
was mainly a European feud. None of these have comparable Muslim
examples, and it’s because of the Prophet’s advice.

2. Killing of non-combatants such as old people, monks and workers is explicitly forbidden in Islamic scripture

Ibn Abbas narrates that the Prophet (may peace be upon
him) said to an outgoing army, “Leave in the name of God, and upon the
way of his messenger. Do not kill any old person”. [Al-Bayhaqi: 16689]
Ibn Abbas also narrates from the Prophet (may peace be upon him)
said, “Do not ever kill the people living in towers (i.e. monks). [Nayl
al-Awtar: 3324]
Rabah ibn Rabee’ says he left in an expedition with the prophet
(peace be upon him), who went up to Khalid ibn Walid [his general] and
said “Do not kill the workers / wage earners [i.e. those workers not
fighting you]”. [Ahmad: 15562]

The above hadiths are the words of the Prophet himself, explicitly
banning the harm of those who fall into the broader classification of
non-combatants. These traditions specify that the old who cannot
participate in any aggression, the monks who have forsaken any interest
in worldly life, and those regular workers that are not involved in
politics or war are to be left alone. Furthermore, Muslim scholars have
used these traditions to deduce through analogy, that more groups stand
protected by Islamic law.

3. The prohibition of hurting the disabled and infirm

The blind, the infirm and the monks are not to be killed
according to Islamic legal scholars as they are not from among the
combatants, similar to the old person. [Al-Mugni: 7612]

This is the statement of ibn Qudamah, the compiler of Islamic
jurisprudence, who can be likened to Maimonides in Judaism or St
Augustine in Christianity in terms of their influence and acclaim. Here
you can see that he has deduced from the words of the Qur’an and Hadith
laws to protect other groups not explicitly mentioned, but are
understood through inference. This is stated in the book Al-Mughni,
which is described as the ultimate book to Shariah law.
In addition to banning various types of killings, the Prophet goes
further to include more restrictions on the way Muslims engage in war.

4. Islam prohibits the mutilation of dead combatants

Sulaiman b. Buraid through his father reports that when the Messenger
of Allah (may peace be upon him) appointed anyone as a leader of an
army or detachment he would especially exhort him to fear Allah and to
be good to the Muslims who were with him. He would say:

“Fight in the name of Allah and in the way of Allah… do
not break your pledge; and do not mutilate (the dead) bodies; do not
kill the children. [Muslim 4294]

This order is not concerning civilians but dead combatants. The
Prophet taught Muslims to respect even dead enemy soldiers who were
fighting against the Muslims just before their death. This was when it
was common practice among the pagans of Makkah to disfigure dead enemy
soldiers after the battle was over. In addition to dead enemy soldiers,
there are also clear instructions of how to treat enemy soldiers that
are still alive.

5. The Qur’an commands Muslims to show mercy to those combatants who surrender

And if one of the disbelievers surrenders and pleads
mercy, then show mercy so that they can hear the words of Allah, and
then allow him to go back to his place of safety. [Qur’an 9: 5]

Verses like these are regularly overlooked by both the Islamophobe
when they quote certain verses in isolation to the broader message of
the Qur’an, as well as extremists who try to convince Muslims that Islam
demands merciless violence and claim that anyone who disagrees are not
real Muslims.
In fact, the most popularly quoted verse used to make Islam appear uber violent is, “And fight them wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out” [Qur’an 2: 192]. This verse comes straight after the one quoted in the beginning of this article, (“And fight in the way of God those that fight you, but do not transgress”).
However when taken on its own, without looking at what proceeded it,
“them” in this verse could be understood as anyone and everyone, not
just “those fighting you”.
So Islamophobes and extremists seem to misquote the same verses and
choose to ignore the same ones, arguing the same lazy lie. Unfortunately
for them, the sources of Islamic law say otherwise.

6. Treatment of prisoners of war

And they give food, in spite of their love for it (or for
the love of Him), to the Miskeen (the poor), the orphan, and the
captive, (Saying): ‘We feed you seeking Allah’s Countenance only. We
wish for no reward, nor thanks from you”. [Qur’an 76:8-9]
Ibn ‘Abbas said: in those days their prisoners were mushrikeen
(polytheists; on the day of Badr the Messenger of Allah (may peace be
upon him) commanded them to be kind to their prisoners, so they used to
put them before themselves when it came to food… Mujahid said, this
refers to the one who is detained, i.e., they would give food to these
prisoners even though they themselves desired it and loved it. [Tafsir
ibn Kathir: Al-Insan]

In Islam, prisoners of war are treated with dignity and care. Islam
introduced such rules of war 1400 years ago while the Geneva convention
only decided to outlaw torture in 1977. And just like the clear cut
rulings of Islam have had no affect on the actions of terror groups that
claim to be Muslim, similarly the Geneva convention has not stemmed the
torture and abuse by western nations in recent history.

7. Even the cutting of trees, destroying surroundings and killing animals without reason is illegal

Abu Bakr said, “I advise you, do not cut the fruitful
trees, or destroy homes. And do not wound the sheep, goats or cattle
except to for eating”. [Al-Muwatta: 949]

This ruling, as ordered by the first and most important of the
rightly-guided Caliphs sets the precedence for Muslim army conduct in
foreign lands. This statement is part of a longer speech delivered to
Muslim army generals who were about to set off for war against the Roman
empire. There is no ‘shock and awe’ tactics which armies new and old
employ, where infrastructure and civilian populations are terrorised
into surrendering.

8. There can be no forced conversion

Let there be no compulsion in religion – Truth stands out
clear from Error! Whoever rejects evil and believes in God has grasped
the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And Allah hears and
knows all things. [Quran 2: 256]

As concise an instruction as can be; this one verse has stopped any
attempt by Muslim armies to try and force people to accept Islam.
Although Islam is indeed a missionary religion that seeks to win over
followers, forced conversions are not counted.
There can never be a Spanish Inquisition in Islam. Simply because it
won’t count. Islam can only be spread through strong arguments and
debate, and it can only be embraced through sincere acceptance of the
facts. So no, Islam did not, and could not have spread through the
sword.
So there you have it, the rules of engagement of Islam, straight from
words of the Prophet Muhammad and Shariah Law. It doesn’t sound nearly
as bad as either the right-wing media or an ignorant extremist would
have you think, right? That’s because there is a big difference between
mainstream beliefs and practices of Islam which have been set in stone
for 1400 years, and lazy tabloid readings of isolated quotes.
One thing is for sure, the Islamophobes who declare Islam to be
barbaric and the isolated extremists dreaming up their own versions of
Islam are two sides of the same coin. They both benefit from twisting
scripture, and they both stand condemned as frauds when presented with
the evidence from the sources of Islamic Law. With this knowledge at
hand, you stand better equipped than 99% of the so-called experts out
there, so use this information and spread it. Hopefully we will soon see
a tide of unemployed ‘extremism experts’ lining up outside the job
centre, where our trusted Job Centres will help them find real jobs.
By Mahmud Shahnawaz

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About Me

ROLAND SAN JUAN was a researcher, management consultant, inventor, a part time radio broadcaster and a publishing director. He died last November 25, 2008 after suffering a stroke. His staff will continue his unfinished work to inform the world of the untold truths. Please read Erick San Juan's articles at: ericksanjuan.blogspot.com This blog is dedicated to the late Max Soliven, a FILIPINO PATRIOT.
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